Opinion of tools

Name of the tool
BEES (Building for Environment and Economic Sustainability)

Positive comments about the tool
• Offers a unique blend of environmental science, decision science, and economics.
• It uses life-cycle concepts, is based on consensus standards, and is designed to be practical, flexible, and transparent.
• It is practical in its systematic packaging of detailed, science-based, quantitative environmental and economic performance data in a manner that offers useful decision support.
• It is flexible in allowing tool users to customize judgments about key study parameters. It is transparent in documenting and providing all the supporting performance data and computational algorithms.

Negative comments about the tool
• Fairly specific to a particular industry which means a background level of knowledge if required to complete BEES.
• It only applies to products within the USA. The BEES results do not apply to products sold in other countries where manufacturing and agricultural practices, fuel mixes, environmental regulations, transportation distances, and labor and material markets may differ. (BEES does apply to products manufactured in other countries and sold in the United States. These results, however, do not apply to those same products as sold in other countries because transport to the United States is built into their BEES life cycle inventory data. Furthermore, all products in a generic product group, such as vinyl composition tile floor covering, are not created equal. Product composition, manufacturing methods, fuel mixes, transportation practices, useful lives, and cost can all vary for individual products in a generic product group. The BEES results for the generic product group do not necessarily represent the performance of an individual product.
• Includes environmental and economic performance data for only 200 building products covering 23 building elements.